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Staying Focused on Workdays
Going back to school, even when we are at our most enthusiastic, can be tough after a long vacation. Especially when we have a list of tasks we have to complete. And when we haven’t seen our co-workers all summer and we need to catch up. And when our administrators and districts give us professional development classes when we just want to put up the alphabet posters in our room. It can be overwhelming when you enter your classroom on that first workday with chairs stacked against the wall and empty bulletin boards begging for life. Here are three tips to keep you at your most productive and to respect…
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Using Nursery Rhymes at Home and in the Classroom
Listening and speaking are the foundation for reading and writing, and as teachers we know the importance of reading to children from a very young age. But just as important is hearing and learning nursery rhymes. Back in the day I learnt all my nursery rhymes bouncing around on relative's knees, and would proudly show of my ability to 'read' my nursery rhyme book back to front, reciting all the nursery rhymes that are still emblazoned on my memory to this day.
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Celebration Time!
It’s a big celebration here as today marks one year since I first started blogging. It’s been quite the journey and as it nearly coincides with the end of the school year for Mr. B, I decided to share the love with these free bubble labels! We buy the six pack of bubble wands every year from Walmart or Amazon. It ends up at around $20 for the class and it is something that the kids can use on the last recess before summer. The labels are in color or in ink-friendly black and white, for you to use with your own colored paper. I just tape the labels onto…
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5 Amazon Bulletin Board Accessories to make your classroom POP!
If you are lucky enough to receive a classroom budget, then these items from Amazon are totally worth the investment, and if stored carefully should last you for years! (Disclosure: Some of links below are affiliate links, which means that at no additional cost to you, I will earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase.) Bulletin Board Paper Hopefully your school already provides some primary colored backing paper for your bulletin boards. But this stuff is amazing. I bought some last year and backed both my own board and one in my husband’s classroom, and I have fallen in love with it. Not only does it…
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Field Trip Checklist
It only takes one disaster on a field trip to make you rethink every future field trip. Every teacher has a story, and mine involved a bus going the wrong way, making a too-fast u-turn in a funeral parlor parking lot and going under an awning that was too low. It skimmed the top of the bus, debris fell into the bus and a new sunroof was born. The funeral parlor owner kindly invited us to wait inside until the police arrived. We politely declined. It’s funny now. It wasn’t that day. (Disclosure: Some of links below are affiliate links, which means that at no additional cost to you, I…
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More Than a Test Score
It's testing season here, and to me that only means one thing. Stress. Stress for our teachers. Our principals. Our parents. But most of all, stress for our students.
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We’ve Got The Whole World In Our Hands
Earth Day is April 22nd and it is a great opportunity for upper elementary students to evaluate the impact that we have on the planet and what the future implications of that impact could be. When I was looking for videos I found a lot of smaltzy, sing-songy videos aimed at lower elementary about recyling, reducing, reusing, planting, etc. But in this blog I want to highlight the five that I found for upper elementary students that I think are the most useful for explaining and laying out the consequences of not looking after our planet, as well as things families can do that could have a positive effect. (Disclosure:…
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Fractured Fairy Tales
Teaching a unit on fairy Tales, folktales and fables was always one of my favorite times in school. We would start with traditional tales, which even back in the 1990’s not everyone knew, and if they did it was often just an wide-eyed Disney version. Then we would move on to lesser known tales, like that of Bluebeard, who told his wife never to open the room on the top floor of the house (but left her the key anyway), Rushen-Coatie and Yeh-Shen (Scottish and Chinese versions of Cinderella, respectively). By far my favorite part of the unit though, was teaching ‘twisted’ or ‘fractured’ versions of familiar fairy tales, usually…
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Free Easter Bag Toppers!
This week I have a freebie for you that you can use to top ziplock baggies that contain an Easter treat. I used Peeps, because I like them, but you could fill your baggies with chocolate eggs, jelly beans or trinkets.
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The Best Easter Egg Hunt EVER!
After about 75 seconds of a whirling, screaming dervish, two kids had bumped heads going for the same egg. Billy had found 107 eggs. Jasmine had found one. Billy did not want to share the eggs he found. Jasmine was crying. Mallory whined that she was tired. Lilly wanted an animal egg that Jared had found. Jared wasn't giving it up.
